FULLERTON, Calif. – The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Committee has announced the participants for the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships preliminary competitions. Cal State Fullerton track and field tallied three entries on the women's side and nine entries for the 2017 and 2018 Big West Champion men's squad.
The preliminary competitions are scheduled for May 24 - 26. The University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida will host the East Preliminary and California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California will host the West Preliminary. The qualifiers out of these two regions will compete in the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 6-9 in Eugene, Oregon.
The top 48 individuals and 24 relay teams qualified for the preliminaries and only the top 12 individuals and eight relay teams advance to Eugene.
"I'm really excited," head coach John Elders said. "We have a great group of kids going that have had great seasons. We're hoping to extend it a bit further and get through the rounds and get to Oregon. I'm happy for both our teams and who we have representing us."
On the men's side, Rasaun House and Thaddeus Smith are both set to compete in the 100-meter dash. House and Smith both clocked times of 10.44 this season with Smith winning the Big West Championship in the event. House is ranked 41st and Smith is 44th heading into the preliminaries. Smith is also entered in the 200-meter sprint with the 30th-ranked time of 21.00. Danny Ramirez will run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:57.10, the No. 44 mark in the region. Mason Guzman-Sanchez, the reigning Big West Champion and school-record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, is set to run that event in Sacramento with his No. 42 ranked mark of 14.20. Last but not least for the track events, the men's 4x100-meter relay team will compete and has the No. 23 mark with a time of 40.20. The quartet of House, Smith, Luis Matos and Marcel Espinoza posted that time at the Big West Championships to earn a first-place finish.
Edwin Matthews, a Big West All-Conference honoree, claimed the 48th and final spot in the men's high jump field with his clearance of 6-10.25 (2.09m). Anthony Applequist, also a Big West All-Conference honoree, holds the No. 23 ranked mark in the triple jump at 51-3.5 (15.63m). Corey Gilbert has the No. 22 ranked toss in the discus with a school-record toss of 184-0 (56.09m) to earn his spot in the competition. Gilbert was also a Big West All-Conference team member.
For the CSF women, Samantha Huerta will compete in the 800-meter race. The reigning Big West Champion in the event has clocked a season-best time of 2:07.36 (CSF record) which is ranked 29th heading into the competition. Iesha Hamm is set to compete in the high jump as she cleared 5-10 (1.78m) this season, a school-record mark that ranks her 23rd. Along with the other two Titans, Nicole Clark is also a school-record holder with her toss of 156-8 (47.77m) in the javelin. She enters the preliminaries with the 27th-best toss in the region.
NCAA track and field fans can watch a live stream of the NCAA Division I East and/or West Preliminary Championships as FloTrack Pro subscribers.
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